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The CMOS Sensor: What Lies Ahead.

From:

Advanced Imaging

Date:

June 1, 2000

Author:

Mazor, Barry

More results for:

"eric fossum"

Companies mentioned:

Advanced Imaging Concepts Inc.

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After a long incubation period, the CMOS imager has be come one of the
fastest-growing and status-quo-busting imaging technologies to have come
up the pike. We've taken up some of the most pressing questions in CMOS
imaging delivery and development with some key global players in the
arena--and contributors to the technology. They share their insights with
you here.

A somewhat lengthier version of this discussion, including a look at
CMOS manufacturing lessons learned so far, with live links to the
participating firms, can be found (from publication of this discussion in
June 2000, throughout the summer) at the Advanced Imaging Web site:
www.advancedimagingmag.com.

ALL RIGHT...

SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Barry Mazor, Al: There's been so much achieved in CMOS already. But
over the course of this year, and over the next three years, where do you
expect to see CMOS imager capabilities heading in terms of resolution,
sensitivity, and speed? You can characterize these with whatever number
system you like!

Helen Titus, Eastman Kodak: We believe there is going to be a wide
range of CMOS offerings concentrating on various image-sensor segments. A
few players will focus on the highest-performance segments which require
the ultimate in terms of resolution (for example, 6 Mpix for the studio
photography segment), speed (over 1,000 fps for motion analysis), etc.,
but the vast majority will focus on new emerging applications such as cell
phones, PDAs and biometrics. These don't necessarily need the ultimate in
terms of performance, but they will benefit from CMOS advantages such as
low cost, high levels of integration and low power. Many of these will be
standard CIF and VGA sensors with 30 fps capability.

Eric Fossum, Photobit: In terms of resolution, I think that 4
Mpix devices will be routine by the end of the next three-year period.
Pixel size will continue to shrink to the 3um realm. I think that
sensitivity will be the most difficult area to tackle, at least in
consumer-grade devices. Backside-illuminated, high-sensitivity CMOS image
sensors will probably be demonstrated in the next couple of years, but for
cost-sensitive applications, sensitivity that significantly exceeds the
current state-of-the-art sensitivity in CCDs is unlikely.

Speed will continue to increase to over 1 Gpix/sec total digital output
rates for high-speed, niche-market devices. It will be technically
feasible to go faster, but there will have to be a strong market pull to
develop these devices.

I'd note that, at the CLEO meeting in May in San Francisco, Photobit
discussed a 4 Mpix, 200 fps digital-output sensor that we are developing.
This is certainly the world's highest-throughput megapixel sensor at 800
Mpix/sec. At the ISSCC meeting last February, we reported on a
50-microwatt QCIF sensor with digital output using a 1.2V supply voltage.
This is by far the world's lowest-power image sensor.

Dirk Taeymans, C-Cam: I see no limitation whatsoever regarding frame
speed, resolution, sensitivity and noise figure in comparison with CCD
sensors in the coming three years. A 1000 x 1000 (resolution) x 1000
(frame speed) sensor already exists; a 3K x 2K pixel sensor exits. If you
compare the noise figure from the lbis4 CMOS sensor, it is 66 dB, while
most available CCD sensors do no better than 58 dB! The CCD pep-talk of
bad noise figures of CMOS sensors is history of the former century. Now,
CMOS does it better, and the sensitivity of a CMOS sensor is comparable to
CCD sensors. In three years, I might also expect back-illuminated CMOS
sensors for astronomical applications.

Les Thurlow & Brigitte Smiley, Symagery: The general technology
development trend will be towards larger array sizes, smaller pixel sizes,
and increased readout speed. To achieve this, sensitivity must be improved
from where it is today, and this is a major challenge of the industry. The
rate of actual shift in these directions will be, as usual, driven by the
needs of applications, and many of the emerging volume apps still only
require the resolution and speed of today's sensors.

Our own product development path will be bringing our 1.3 Mpix CMOS
imaging IC, the VCA128O, into full production. This single chip includes
comprehensive on-chip controls, allowing easy user set-up and adjustment
of window size, window rate, integration time, signal gain/attenuation,
and readout rate up to a full 30 fps at maximum window size (1280 x 1024).

Chris Durso, Xybion: Resolution, speed, and sensitivity are the key
factors that will define the success of CMOS sensors--the performance
categories--most deficient when compared to CCD sensors today. The CMOS
manufacturing process and high level of integration have resulted in lower
cost per unit. However, wide acceptance hinges on matching and exceeding
the imaging performance of the current generation of CCD imagers. That
will be seen.

At Xybion Electronic Systems, we are currently developing a
next-generation CMOS sensor under the P-Scout program sponsored by DARPA.
This sensor will exhibit high-frame-rate output (analog and digital), high
resolution (1280 x 1024), and better than 1 lux sensitivity. Following
completion of the development cycle, the sensor will find application in a
wide range of military and commercial imaging systems.

Neal Carney, Agilent: Agilent is focused on creating the "Eyes of the
Internet". In these applications, that calls For providing the best image
quality at very low cost for VGA and CIF resolution. The primary
application in this space is the electronic distribution (Internet and
email) and viewing of images. Focusing on low-light sensitivity and
achieving a full VGA frame rate of 30 fps are key considerations for the
year 2000. But the real key in this market is achieving a cost that
enables digital-image-capture devices to be ubiquitous--so that every PC
shipped includes such a device as standard equipment. Agilent is focused
on this mass-market approach with a high-volume design and value chain
including fab, packaging and test, capable of producing well over a
million units per month.

Ron Brunwasser & Udi Efrat, Tower Semiconductor: Those answers will
be determined by the markets. For portable consumer appliances, including
videocapable cell phones and peripherals for PDAs and laptop computers,
imagers are likely to employ a high level of integration as a "system on a
chip" (SOC). Resolution in this segment is likely to lag a few levels
behind the high-end imager market. Resolution is expected to exceed ten
million pixels for pro and studio digital photography, and two to six
million pixels for press and amateur photography. When these resolutions
are offered at equivalent prices to film cameras, digital photo will begin
to replace film-based imaging in the broader marketplace. The inherent
lower cost of CMOS (compared to CCD) will make CMOS-based products more
competitive.

In internal medical imaging, the main drivers are miniaturization and
low power consumption, but low cost is also a factor, especially with
disposable instruments. This segment will utilize highly-integrated imager
chips with embedded memory, logic and driver circuitry, all in a
pin-head-sized device.

Dave Litwiller, DALSA: Over the next year, we expect that the majority
of CMOS players will continue with their current activities, productizing
and consolidating their offerings. Like virtually all new technologies in
their early days, most CMOS image sensors were rushed to market with
significant performance issues. Only the lowest-performance apps (consumer
video conferencing and security cameras) have been a solid triumph for
CMOS image capture in its current state. Companies are working on reducing
noise, increasing uniformity, improving sensitivity, and increasing
integration to take the rough-cut first generation of CMOS sensors to a
state more suited for a broader range of applications that need higher
performance. This will be a prime focus of the next three years for the
CMOS imager companies that prevail.

HOW DOES CMOS GET THERE FROM HERE?

Barry Mazor, AI: What, from your different perspectives, are the key
challenges to be tackled in getting from today's marketed sensor
capabilities to these new specs--and, if you're moved to tell us, which of
these aspects is your organization in the process of tackling--or
responding to in other ways?

Dirk Taeymans, C-Cam: The challenge now is marketing, not the technical
specifications. The CMOS technology has proven to be better than CCD in
many areas, although not all CMOS sensor designers in the world have
reached this stage. The ones who currently have the technology under
control will become market leaders.

Now, it seems that CMOS sensors are ready to replace CCD sensors, but
not all camera and frame-grabber builders are ready with the design of the
new CMOS technology. Most camera builders still have conservative ideas
about the old CCD technology--but they will miss the boat if they do not
do something about it!

Eric Fossum, Photobit: I think the key challenge to realizing
these advancements is developing image-sensor-grade, deep sub-micron CMOS
processes. Fortunately, several wafer foundries are committing resources
to this end, and I am optimistic that such processes will be available.
There certainly will also be challenges in the area of low power and
high-speed circuit design.

Ron Brunwasser & Udi Efrat; Tower Semiconductor: Foundries are
continuing to develop manufacturing processes to enable a higher degree of
miniaturization, as well as maintaining low dark current and high light
sensitivity in smaller pixel sizes. Another emerging requirement of
specialty CIS (CMOS Image Sensor) foundries like ours is offering
customers tools and methods for characterizing and testing the
electro-optical performance of their device, both at the prototype stage
and in serial production. As a pure-play foundry, Tower supports a wide
range of device and system manufacturers with the most advanced
technologies.

Currently, Tower is involved with one of its customers in a project
developing a CMOS sensor containing over ten million pixels; that will be
the highest-known-resolution imager manufactured in this exciting
technology.

Helen Titus, Eastman Kodak: The biggest challenges will be to advance
CMOS performance to that equal to that of CCDs while maintaining system
cost advantages. This has been the primary focus of Kodak since our start
in CMOS, and we have made significant progress along the way. We have a
number of patents, such as our pinned photodiode design, which greatly
enhances the image quality of our CMOS sensors, inching closer to that of
CCD. This will remain our focus over the next several years.

Les Thurlow & Brigitte Smiley, Symagery: Key challenges include
those related to advanced circuit design and process technology
optimization. Noise minimization techniques will continue to be an area of
major design effort, as will continual improvement of design and
verification tools,

Chris Durso, Xybion: Like much in high-tech, CMOS imagers will be
eclipsed by new designs shortly after their introduction, so we work to
design in as much flexibility as possible. Xybion's new imager will
feature a "snapshot" shutter, as opposed to the conventional rolling
shutter to eliminate motion blur. This feature is vital to success in the
military market for battlefield intelligence and target recognition.

High-res and windowing capabilities will allow the imaging system to
electronically roam throughout the fields of view, which has been critical
for unattended ground sensors that must be both power-efficient and
silent. The ability to change output res to adapt to different mission
profiles allows the user a "closer look" at the expense of frame rate. And
active pixel gain control in CMOS imagers results in greater system
dynamic range as compared to CCD designs.

Neal Carney, Agilent: The keys to achieving low cost are a reduction in
die size, low-cost plastic packaging, and efficient optical testing;
Agilent is actively investing in all these areas. One key lies in
developing an optimized CMOS imaging process with low dark current, good
analog performance and integral color filters. We're also focused on
breakthroughs in pixel design that will enable smaller pixels with
sensitivity equal to or better than today's products; this capability will
allow CMOS-based sensors to compete directly and successfully in the
megapixel arena with CCDs.

Dave Litwiller, DALSA: One of the key challenges to widespread CMOS
adoption is customer confidence, rather than pure technology or
manufacturing issues. There have been a lot of aggressively-optimistic
sales pitches by the early CMOS players--performance claims that were
badly disappointed when silicon was delivered, which has made customers
distrustful of the claims of image sensor suppliers as a group. DALSA is
one of only a few companies that offers both CCD and CMOS products, and we
are responding to that key adoption hesitation by assuring customers that
we don't have a bias for either one. We will offer the image-capture
technology that suits the application without undue bias. That's
resonating strongly in the marketplace, and we have a strong order book
testifying to that!

MORE INTEGRATED?

Barry Mazor, Al: What lies ahead, this year and over the next three,
for successful integration of CMOS sensors with other circuitry or
capabilities? And what would success in this arena really mean for OEMs
and system integrators?

Helen Titus, Eastman Kodak: The level of on-chip circuitry will depend
on the application. Certainly, for uses where size, common output format
and image processing are necessary, there will be more and more features
integrated on the sensor. This is true for portable and hand-held
applications as well as for biometric imaging, where "images as
information" is critical. OEMs and integrators will be able to manufacture
smaller systems with lower power and a shorter time to market. These extra
on-chip functions, however, usually add sources of noise, so for
applications where the user wants "images as pictures", we don't see a
high level of integration on the horizon.

Eric Fossum, Photobit: There are two main issues: cost and
power. We know that we can integrate additional circuitry on-chip (with
certain caveats) without increasing noise. Since design rules for digital
logic lead those for imaging by perhaps five years, it's often more
cost-effective for large digital functions to be implemented on a separate
chip. Integration is a cost/benefit trade, and is very
application-dependent. Power is also important, since image-sensor dark
current is very sensitive to temperature and spatial temperature
variations. So, a low-dark-current image-sensor-process technology and a
low-power circuit design are critical to a successful SOC implementation.

Ron Brunwasser & Udi Efrat, Tower Semiconductor: Advanced embedding
capability is cardinal to miniaturization, low cost and low power
consumption. These result from integrating the basic circuitry--optronics,
analog front end (AFE), control logic, data I/O--with image processing and
memory elements. Providing turnkey services for such highly-integrated
devices requires the foundry to offer process technologies and
intellectual property in mixed signal and Flash memory in addition to CIS
and core CMOS.

Dave Litwiller, DALSA: The main challenge today to integrate
functionality onto CMOS image sensors is the same as it is for all SOCs:
circuit complexity is outpacing design efficiency. The companies that win
in the battle for system integration on an imager chip will be those that,
in addition to competitive image quality, achieve the most efficient
re-use of circuit blocks, which requires very strong platform planning and
extensive re-use of circuit functions.

Long term, this means that the applications that build on SOC functions
that are shared by applications with good volume will be serviced by
highly-integrated, easy-to-use CMOS image sensors. The disappointment will
come in those areas that do not share those functional elements. This will
come as a big letdown for some OEMs and integrators who are being drawn in
by the hype surrounding CMOS expecting integration, when--in a lot of
cases--it will not be delivered or sustained because of their unique
system requirements.

Les Thurlow & Brigitte Smiley, Symagery: The industry will see more
and more integration of sensor-control and common interface functions to
make the CMOS imaging IC easier to control and integrate into OEM systems.
The routine integration of memory and large digital functions into the
imaging IC will occur only at the rate allowed by the development and
availability of an appropriate cost-effective, mixed-signal-process
technology.

Chris Durso, Xybion: Since our focus is on the development and
manufacture of complete electro-optical system solutions, the CMOS imager
itself is only one variable in the equation. For a CMOS imager to be
successful in this environment, it must provide a significant value-add to
the electro-optical system. The promise of a lower cost in manufacturing
as compared to CCD imagers will certainly contribute to its success there,
and its lower power consumption for the "photon-in to video-out" process
will impact the mission capabilities of sensor systems operating under
battery power. Sensor systems will operate longer in the field or be
constructed smaller to fit into a new range of applications.

Also, Xybion intends to implement CMOS technology in both intensified
and non-intensified imaging systems. Integration of CMOS with the next
generation of image-intensifier-tube technology promises compact,
lightweight, and power-efficient sensors for both soldiers and weapons
systems.

Dirk Taeymans, C-Cam: We are getting requests from all over the world
to integrate cameras into applications. Because this can be done with less
effort than with CCD sensors, CMOS cameras can be made more compact, less
energy consuming and more intelligent. But another challenge emerges:
where to find enough qualified engineers to design those cameras and
sensors. The CMOS sensor & camera market is huge.

Neal Carney, Agilent: Agilent is very focused on delivering complete
imaging solutions, including image-processing capability, both on the
sensor itself (monolithically) and in companion ICs. We are also focused
on packaging solutions that enable very cost-effective two-chip solutions.
In many cases, it is more cost-effective and power-efficient to use an
advanced digital CMOS process for a separate image processing IC than it
is to attempt to integrate this with the mixed-signal, color-filter
process for the image sensor.

THE CMOS VS. CCD WAR

Barry Mazor, Al: In which imaging applications do you see CMOS posing a
direct replacement challenge to CCD next--video, photo, industrial
imaging, etc.--and why?

Eric Fossum, Photobit: Our main focus at Photobit is on creating
new applications for imaging based on the low-power and functional
advantages of CMOS active pixel sensors. For example, I would be surprised
if anyone is seriously considering CCDs for that enormous emerging cell
phone/PDA image acquisition market! Of course, we are also developing
high-speed megapixel sensors for industrial imaging and motion analysis
that can compete strongly against CCDs.

I foresee a continued penetration of CMOS image sensors into existing
CCD markets, especially in the consumer-grade 2Mpix (and lower) range for
PC teleconferencing and digital still cameras. I believe that the CCD
extinction process is well underway and that there has already been a
significant decline in the CCD supplier base.

Dirk Taeymans, C-Cam: I first expect a change in the high-end camera
market due to the new features of the sensors. I expect industrial CCD
cameras and CMOS cameras to be in a tight competition the coming years.
Today, even some important CCD camera and sensor builders are studying
CMOS sensors. Their problem is the technology knowledge, as they have a
major gap in time and experience to fill. I expect that they will buy a
custom-made CMOS sensor from companies like Fillfactory IMEC (Belgium) or
research institutes like Fraunhofer-IMS (Germany), CSEM (Switzerland) and
bring it out under their own name. This year and next, I expect CMOS
digital cameras for consumers in volume.

In 2003, I expect the first video CMOS consumer products to start
replacing CCD cameras. For this to happen, a commercial gap needs to be
filled--the most advanced CMOS sensor designers are situated in Europe,
but the major volume camera builders are situated out of Europe.

Neal Carney, Agilent: At Agilent, we are focused on how to apply CMOS
imaging technology to enable new applications, as opposed to thinking in
terms of "replacing CCDs". Currently, we are helping to enable PC cameras
to become a standard PC input device in concert with industry leaders such
as Logitech and Compaq. As portals to the Internet become wireless,
Agilent plans to be the leader in low-power, CMOS-based imaging for mobile
appliances. Because of power considerations, CMOS-based image capture is
the only technology capable of image-enabling tomorrow's mobile
appliances.

Helen Titus, Eastman Kodak: There will certainly be some level of
replacement in the lower-performance end of the markets--PC cameras,
security, low-end machine vision, etc.--but, by far, the growth in this
area will come in new applications enabled by the CMOS advantages which
are emerging because of the Internet, as well as overall digital growth.
Included in this are applications such as biometric imaging, cameras for
cell phones, PDAs, games, toys, and automotive.

Les Thurlow & Brigitte Smiley, Symagery: CMOS technology naturally
lends itself to applications requiring an increased compactness of
functional design. The resultant benefits of lower power consumption,
simpler power supply design, and smaller overall physical size point
directly at portable system applications. And the windowing and direct
pixel control capability of the CMOS design architecture makes it ideal
for intelligent industrial imaging applications, which often require a
high read-out speed.

Dave Litwiller, DALSA: The next mainstream market in which CMOS will
replace CCDs will be in low-end industrial imaging--i.e. binary imaging
applications of quasi-stationary objects. This was the original industrial
machine vision market that started off using tube, MOS and CCD cameras
from security applications. Now that CMOS is becoming successful in
security applications, it will migrate into the least-demanding industrial
applications next along the same trajectory. Higher-performance industrial
imaging and consumer video will come next, but those are still years off.

Higher-quality applications, especially digital photo, are much farther
away for CMOS. It is questionable as to whether some of these high-quality
apps will ever predominantly shift to CMOS, given that some of the CMOS
scaling issues of future manufacturing processes are trending away from
integration of pixels with the rest of a system's electronic
functionality, and toward the steady progression of quality and power
dissipation of CCDs.

Chris Durso, Xybion: Since Xybion's focus is on video imaging systems,
this is where we see the most significant and immediate impact of CMOS
technology. The promise of low-cost, high-performance, image-intensified
video systems could have a positive effect on law-enforcement agencies by
bringing the technology into the mainstream. Surveillance, officer
protection, and procedural documentation will benefit from lower-cost,
portable video imaging systems. Compact, helmet-mounted, intensified
sensors for soldiers, vehicle-mounted systems that extend nighttime
operational capabilities, and mini- and micro-UAV platforms will all
directly benefit from advanced CMOS system integration.

Ron Brunwasser & Udi Efrat, Tower Semiconductor: In our view, the
CMOS imaging sensor can and will replace CCDs in almost every market
segment, as well as enable completely new applications, such as cellular
video phones, disposable camera pills, camera pens and more. The common
notion promoted by CCD manufacturers today is that CMOS sensors are only
applicable for low-end applications such as toys and PC peripherals.
However, multi-megapixel CMOS sensors with extremely low dark current,
such as those made by Tower for studio photography systems, have proven
that CMOS imaging systems can match and exceed CCD in high-end
applications as well.

THE PARTICIPANTS:

* Helen Titus, Marketing Manager for the CCD group at Eastman Kodak.
Image Sensor Solutions (Rochester, NY).

* Neal Carney, Marketing Manager at the Imaging Electronics Division of
Agilent Technologies, Semiconductor Products Group (San Jose, CA).

* Eric Fossum, Chairman and Chief Scientist at Photobit Corp.
(Pasadena, CA).

* Chris Durso, Director of Business Development for Xybion Electronic
Systems (San Diego, CA).

* Dirk Taeymans, Industrial Engineer at C-Cam Technologies (Leuven,
Belgium), a unit of Vector International.

* Ron Brunwasser, Director of the Image Sensors Business Line & Udi
Efrat. Technical Marketing Manager at Tower Semiconductor (Migdat Haemek.
Israel & San Jose. CA).

* Dave Litwiller. Director of Marketing at DALISA. Inc. (Waterloo. ON.
Canada).

* Les Thurlow, Vice-President of Marketing & Brigitte Smiley, Sales
& Marketing Coordinator at Symagery Microsystems (Kanata. ON. Canada).

COPYRIGHT 2000 Cygnus Business Media. This material is
published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group,
Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights
should be directed to the Gale Group. For permission to reuse this
article, contact Copyright Clearance Center.

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